The present invention relates to a packing error detecting system preferably employed in a fast-food shop system to check whether all of sales items are correctly packed in a package (i.e., bag or the like) in accordance with customer""s order without opening the already sealed package, thereby surely eliminating any error in a packing operation.
FIG. 18 shows a typical drive-through shop (i.e., one of the fast-food shops), which allows each customer to place an order and pick the ordered items up while the customer""s vehicle moves by the shop window without requiring the customer to get off his/her vehicle.
For example, a customer in his/her vehicle 54 at an order-taking window 51 places an order and pays for ordered items. Then, the customer drives his/her vehicle 54 along an arrow and waits for a while at a pickup window 52 until the ordered items are served. An order slip of the ordered items is sent from the order-taking window 51 to a cookery 53. In the cookery 53, the designated commodities are cooked according to the contents of the received order slip and then packed in a bag. The sealed bag containing the cooked items is sent to the pickup window 52 together with the order slip. Thus, the customer staying in his/her vehicle 54 can receive the ordered items at the pickup window without getting off the vehicle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a packing error detecting system applicable to this kind of fast-food shop (including the drive-through shop) system. An object of the present invention is to provide a packing error detecting system which is capable of checking whether all of sales items are correctly packed in a package in accordance with the customer""s order without opening the already sealed package.
In order to accomplish this and other related objects, the present invention provides a first packing error detecting system, according to which a sales items memory means is provided for storing each commodity name of sales items in response to input information entered in a cash register. A commodity information memory means is provided for storing a nominal weight of each commodity as well as a nominal weight of a package. A sensing means is provided for measuring an actual overall weight of all of the sales items including the package in a condition where the sales items are packed in the package. And, a control means is provided for calculating a nominal weight sum of the sales items and the package based on the information stored in the sales items memory means and the information stored in the commodity information memory means. The control means detects any error in a packing operation of the sales items packed into the package based on a comparison between the nominal weight sum and the actual overall weight measured by the sensing means.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a second packing error detecting system, according to which a sales items memory means is provided for storing each commodity name of sales items in response to input information entered in a cash register. A commodity information memory means is provided for storing ID information of each commodity. A sensing means is provided for detecting ID information transmitted from an IC tag attached on a wrapping cover of each sales item in a condition where the sales items are packed in a package. And, a control means is provided for detecting any error in a packing operation of the sales items packed into the package based on a comparison between the ID information obtained by the sensing means and the information stored in the sales items memory with reference to the information stored in the commodity information memory means.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a third packing error detecting system, according to which a sales items memory means is provided for storing each commodity name of sales items in response to input information entered in a cash register. A commodity information memory means is provided for storing appearance characteristics of a wrapping cover of each commodity. An image recognizing means is provided for detecting the appearance characteristics of the wrapping cover of each sales item in a condition where the sales items are packed in a package. And, a control means is provided for detecting any error in a packing operation of the sales items packed into the package based on a comparison between the recognized result obtained by the image recognizing means and the information stored in the sales items memory with reference to the information stored in the commodity information memory means.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a fourth packing error detecting system, according to which a sales items memory means is provided for storing each commodity name of sales items in response to input information entered in a cash register. A commodity information memory means is provided for storing a nominal weight of each commodity as well as a nominal weight of a package in addition to ID information of each commodity. A first sensing means is provided for measuring an actual overall weight of all of the sales items including the package in a condition where the sales items are packed in the package. A second sensing means is provided for detecting ID information transmitted from an IC tag attached on a wrapping cover of each sales item in a condition where the sales items are packed in the package. And, a control means is provided for calculating a nominal weight sum of the sales items and the package based on the information stored in the sales items memory means and the information stored in the commodity information memory means. The control means detects any error in a packing operation of the sales items packed into the package based on a comparison between the nominal weight sum and the actual overall weight measured by the first sensing means as well as based on a comparison between the ID information obtained by the second sensing means and the information stored in the sales items memory with reference to the information stored in the commodity information memory means.
Moreover, the present invention provides a fifth packing error detecting system, according to which a sales items memory means is provided for storing each commodity name of sales items in response to input information entered in a cash register. A commodity information memory means is provided for storing a nominal weight of each commodity as well as a nominal weight of a package in addition to appearance characteristics of a wrapping cover of each commodity. A sensing means is provided for measuring an actual overall weight of all of the sales items including the package in a condition where the sales items are packed in the package. An image recognizing means is provided for detecting the appearance characteristics of the wrapping cover of each sales item in a condition where the sales items are packed in the package. And, a control means is provided for calculating a nominal weight sum of the sales items and the package based on the information stored in the sales items memory means and the information stored in the commodity information memory means. The control means detects any error in a packing operation of the sales items packed into the package based on a comparison between the nominal weight sum and the actual overall weight measured by the sensing means as well as based on a comparison between the recognized result obtained by the image recognizing means and the information stored in the sales items memory with reference to the information stored in the commodity information memory means.